Chicago Perfumer Creates Tamale Fragrance

Smelling like greasy food may well be the biggest trend of 2013. Pizza Hut already made a wearable fragrance that smells like its namesake product, and of course one can't forget the bacon shaving cream. And because crazy ideas always come in threes, a Chicago perfumer has decided to try her hand at eau de tamale. 

Zorayada Ortiz of Zoil's Oils designed the perfume in homage to Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. She aims to capture the area's culture and history, and how better to do that than by recreating the aromas of its cuisine.

"I could go wild and try to create a 'pollo' one or an 'al pastor' one," she told DNAinfo.

Tamale isn't the first food scent Ortiz has tackled. She previously produced a "pan de muerto" perfume that smelled like Day of the Dead bread for her Dia de los Muertos collection last year. That one was particularly tricky to pull off.

"I was like, how do I make a scent to smell like bread?" she said.

Like most of us, she started with recipes. After finding one that included anise and orange, she decided to run with those. 

The perfume is meant to be available in the spring, but if all this talk has created a sudden craving, check out some of our best tamale recipes. As a bonus, after making them you'll probably get to smell like tamales for free.